


follow the leader

by thunderylee



Category: Big Bang (Band), KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Canon Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-13
Updated: 2010-01-13
Packaged: 2019-01-31 03:31:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12667350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Kame turns to a foreign stranger to get something he’s not getting elsewhere – guidance.





	follow the leader

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck. written for the jekpopexchange 2009.

A split second of panic tears through Kame, the familiar horror of actually being recognized despite his careful planning. His pace quickens, his head low as he prepares to duck into a small, abandoned shop. He’s almost all the way in when he does the unthinkable – glances over his shoulder – and sees that he isn’t in fact the poor, helpless male idol who’s about to be trampled by a hoard of screaming, ruthless fangirls.

Kame rolls his eyes, but he’s not completely heartless and grabs the guy by the arm before pulling them both into the shop. They rush to lock the door, fumbling with knobs because neither one of them has much weight to stand a chance against what’s on the other side.

It’s not until Kame breathes a sigh of relief and wipes his hands off that he realizes he’s on the receiving end of a stare that he usually gives half of his bandmates when they’re up to no good. It’s that polite kind of discomfort, like when Koki shows up at his apartment at two a.m. with drunk girls that might not actually be girls and Kame pretends to be hospitable.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Kame asks, offering a smile. “If you’re famous, you should disguise yourself as much as you can before you even think about walking out the door.”

“I don’t know which is worse,” the other guy says in his broken Japanese. “Them or you.”

Kame is confused for a second, until it occurs to him that being dragged into an empty shop with a guy in a trenchcoat _is_ kind of sketch. All he can do is laugh as he sheds his hat and mustache and hopes that whoever this is has heard of KAT-TUN.

Recognizance dawns in the eyes looking back at him, different than his own but the same nonetheless. “Oh, you’re that guy from that boyband.”

“Sorry for forcing you in here like that,” Kame says, stepping back into the store to put some space between them. “I guess we watch out for our own.”

The other idol smiles brightly and Kame’s mood is lifted by just looking at him. “I should be thanking you. You might have just saved my life.”

Kame looks around the store, frowning at the abundance of futons on display. Why couldn’t he have saved a cute _girl_ idol from the clutches of evil fans? At least then he could think of a few things to do to pass the time. With a dude, all he can do is talk. “So who are you, anyway?” he asks. “You must be really popular to get chased like that, but I regret that I don’t know who you are.”

“My name is Kwon Jiyong,” the guy replies. “I go by G-Dragon of Big Bang. We’re just another batch of Koreans breaking into the Japanese music industry.”

The way he says it is so sarcastic that Kame can’t help but laugh. “Competition is healthy,” he says optimistically. “Some days I think that’s the only thing that gets my bandmates out of bed.”

He expects the other to laugh too – he _had_ just made a joke, but this G-Dragon is looking at him rather oddly. “Your bandmates don’t like performing?”

“Oh, they like performing,” Kame says fondly. “Just not with each other. But we’ve been together forever, I can’t imagine singing without them. Even solos feel a little… lacking.”

Kwon is still staring at him, and Kame shifts uneasily under his scrutiny. “I’ve seen your show,” is all he says.

“Oh, have you?” Kame’s mood lifts, a natural smile forming as his idol instinct to please shines. “Did you like it?

“I felt like I was watching six strangers interact,” Kwon answers bluntly. “You seemed to know your guests better than you knew each other.”

Kame blinks, his smile frozen in place but his eyebrows rising. “We know each other very well, actually. We’ve been a group for eight years.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Kwon insists. “You can see the same people every day and pick up on things, but nothing compares to the unity you have as a group.”

“What is this?” Kame demands, his hands perching on his hips. “I save you and you lecture me?”

Kwon shrugs. “You asked if I liked your show. Don’t ask a question if you don’t want an honest answer.”

A glance back towards the door tells them both that the girls have no intention of leaving anytime soon. Kame heaves a sigh, plops down on a futon, and lifts his gaze unseeingly towards the ceiling. “I suppose your group has some kind of unbreakable bond?”

Now Kwon laughs, the volume escalating as he takes a seat on the next futon over. “We have our issues, but we work through them, just like any other family.” He pauses. “But as leader, I might be biased.”

“We don’t have a leader anymore,” Kame says quietly. “Ours gave it up years ago.”

“ _What_?!” The shrill noise has Kame cringing. “How can you function without a leader?”

Kame cuts his eyes over to Kwon, who appears genuinely shocked at the revelation. “We function just fine, thank you. We all want to do our best for our fans, so we just put our differences aside and do our best to be civil.”

“That’s horrible,” Kwon says, his hand clasping dramatically over his heart. “I would hate life if I had to pretend like that every day.”

“It’s not pretending,” Kame contests, feeling defensive of his group. “It works for us, so what does it matter?”

Kwon holds up both hands. “Sorry. Clearly we have different goals here.”

“What do you mean?” Kame asks despite his better judgment. “We’re both entertainers in the same market. Just because you’re from Korea and I’m from Japan doesn’t mean anything.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Kwon agrees, offering a sympathetic smile. “But the fact that my group exists first and foremost for _ourselves_ does.”

“So do we-” Kame starts.

“There is no possible way that you can sit there and tell me that given the chance you all wouldn’t go your separate ways,” Kwon interrupts, glaring pointedly. “Or maybe _you_ can, because you’re the only one who would stay.”

Kame looks at the ground. “I don’t see where you get off making assumptions like that about my group.”

“The angrier you get, the more you prove my point.”

There’s an air in Kwon’s voice that isn’t completely patronizing, and Kame finds himself looking up into soft eyes. “It hasn’t always been this way,” he explains. “People grow up and apart.”

“By choice,” Kwon adds gently. “Whether personal or professional, it’s up to _you_ whether to continue your relationships or just let them go.”

Kame thinks about hanging out with Jin, years ago when they were close friends. Being doted on by Ueda, annoyed by Taguchi, teased by Koki and subsequently saved by Nakamaru. Kame knows that they still care about him but it’s not the same, nobody asks about anyone else’s families when they show up for Cartoon KAT-TUN filming, which is basically the only time the six of them have been together since the last album was released eight months ago. Even before then, it seemed like Koki only saw Kame as a wing man at the club, while the others mostly ignored him outside of the studio.

It’s the first time Kame’s actually wondered if it was his own fault. “Did your group always get along?”

“Of course not!” Kwon answers. “We were only formed after winning a talent show, and even then our youngest rallied all on his own when he was asked to leave. None of us stood up for him, even me.”

Kame thinks about Jin and L.A., feeling the guilt all over again. “I guess our groups are opposites, then.”

“Getting it back has to be easier than building it in the first place,” Kwon tells him. “You just have to make the effort to do it.”

“It’s kind of pointless if I’m the only one,” Kame mumbles dejectedly. “It’s unhealthy to have a one-sided relationship.”

Kwon frowns. “From what I hear, your group is great already. Imagine how much better you’d be if you actually enjoyed each other’s company and performed together because you wanted to.”

Kame remembers back when those words were true. “Something like that feels so impossible now. I’m the youngest – I doubt they will listen to anything I have to say.”

“Our youngest never shuts up,” Kwon says fondly. “But I have a special place in my heart for him, just like I’m sure your bandmates do for you. Even if it has just laid dormant for awhile.”

“I don’t know,” Kame says reluctantly. “It’s tolerable as it is, with no unnecessary tension between us.”

“But that’s not what you want, is it?” Kwon says knowingly, and Kame sees why this guy’s group is so close. “You don’t have to be an appointed leader to lead, Kamenashi-san.”

Kame smiles. “‘You remembered my name.”

“Only by association,” Kwon admits sheepishly. “‘Turtle’ and ‘pear’ were on my vocabulary list when your show came on in the hotel. Seungri-yah and I played word games with yours and Akanishi’s names.”

“Seungri-san is your youngest?” Kame guesses.

“Yes,” says Kwon, with something like stars in his eyes. “I adore him a lot even though he can be a little shit at times. A lot of the time. But that’s who he is and if he wasn’t a little shit, he wouldn’t be Seungri-yah.” His face lights up. “Just like Daesung-ah’s ego is known to float away, TOP-hyung is unnecessarily insecure, and Youngbae lets people take advantage of him sometimes. I’m sure that I’m not perfect either, but they all support me just like I support them. No matter what, Big Bang comes first.”

Again, Kame thinks of Jin and his incapability of expressing himself without coming across as a pretentious douchebag. Koki who tries so hard to be someone he thinks everyone will like when really everyone likes the goober underneath, Ueda who has finally come into his own _on_ his own, Junno who just laughs and makes jokes even when it’s inappropriate, and Nakamaru who… Kame can’t think of anything the oldest does that is particularly noteworthy, but that’s probably a flaw in itself.

“I think they’re gone,” is all Kame says, gesturing towards the dirty windows with no female faces pressed against the glass.

Kwon scoffs. “If this was Korea, they would have broken down the door.”

“Thank god for small miracles,” Kame mutters.

Neither makes an effort to get up.

::

A couple weeks later, Kame checks to make sure Jin doesn’t have Bandage promotions and there’s no Shounen Club filming before he puts his test into action. A single text sent to five numbers, and within an hour every letter of KAT-TUN is assembled in Kame’s living room, awkwardly sitting in their street clothes and looking worriedly at Kame.

“Why are we all here?” Nakamaru finally asks. “Is there something wrong?”

Kame smiles at them all, his eyes becoming a little wet. “Not anymore.”

He’s met with four pairs of rolled eyes and a blinding grin from Junno, with just enough time to open his mouth in protest before Koki’s tackled him down and attacked his sides with poking fingers. Jin grabs his hands and Ueda sits on his feet while Junno joins Koki in his efforts, and Nakamaru lets them go for a very long minute before prying them off of Kame and pulling him away from the impromptu tickle attack.

Red-faced and panting for air, Kame clutches onto Nakamaru for support and feels happier than he’s been in ages. Maybe in Big Bang the leader calls all of the shots, but in KAT-TUN it’s up to the youngest to take action.

Kame won’t let them down again.


End file.
